Federal Bureau of Investigation Raids Georgia Peanut Plant

In what ultimately may become a federal criminal case here in Georgia, the BBC is reporting that earlier today, the Federal Bureau of Investigation executed search warrants at the Peanut Corporation of America’s plant in Blakely, Georgia, as well as its headquarters in Lynchburg, Virginia. In addition to the federal criminal investigation that was launched last month, the FDA recently announced that the Company was “not compliant with Current Good Manufacturing Practices required by the FDA”. And more recently, the FDA issued a statement which claimed that the Peanut Corporation of America “knowingly sold contaminated nuts.”

This appears to be a wide-ranging investigation, with potential federal criminal implications here in Georgia, Virginia, Texas, and possibly other locations as well. To date, more than 1500 food products containing Peanut Corporation of America have been recalled, and a total of 575 people have have fallen ill with the outbreak strain of salmonella typhimurium since September 2008.

In addition to these federal criminal problems, the company is also facing civil lawsuits filed by personal injury lawyers on behalf of those that have fallen ill. The full BBC story concerning this ongoing federal criminal investigation can be found here.